Apparatus for handling rod-like articles such as cigarettes



Jan. 1 9,' 1965 D. w. MOLINS ETAL APPARATUS FOR HANDLING ROD-LIKE ARTICLES SUCH AS CIGARETTES 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Ems Filed Dec. 11, 1962 Jan. 19, 1965 D. w. MOLINS ETAL APPARATUS FOR HANDLING ROD-LIKE ARTICLES SUCH AS CIGARETTES Filed Dec. 11, 1962 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Q mm m Jan. 19, 1965 D. w. MOLINS ETAL APPARATUS FOR HANDLING ROD-LIKE ARTICLES SUCH AS CIGARETTES Filed Dec. 11, 1962 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Iuve uro 5 Jan. 19, v 1965 D. w. MOLINS ETAL APPARATUS FOR HANDLING ROD-LIKE ARTICLES SUCH AS CIGARETTES 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed D80. 11, 1962 Iuveurofl flax ma T M mm Jan. 19, 1965 D. w. MOLINS ETAL 3,166,179

APPARATUS FOR HANDLING ROD-LIKE ARTICLES SUCH AS CIGARETTES Filed Dec. 11, 1962 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Lwe NToQ;

@um, a w w ATwu/ew v United States Patent Ofifice 3,166,179 APPARATUS FOR HANDLING RGD-LIKE ARTICLES SUCH AS CIGARETTES Desmond Walter Molins and Tom Rowlands, Deptford,

London, England, assiguors to Molins Machine Company Limited, London, England, a company of Great Britain 7 Filed Dec. 11, 1962, Ser. No. 243,795- Claims priority, application Great Bri ,Dec. 13, 1961,

44,646 8 Claims. c1. 198-34) According to the present invention there is provided.

apparatus for handling rod-like articles such as cigarettes, comprising conveyor-means to convey articles in succession ina direction transverse to their axes, further conveyor-means-to convey the said articles in the opposite direction, and a transfer conveyor to receive articles from the first said conveyor-means and deliver them to the said further conveyor-means, said transfer conveyor exi the first said conveyor-means to transfer articles therefrom tending obliquely from one to the other of said conveyormeans and arranged to move with a component in the direction of movement of one of them, and having articlereceiving recesses, e.g. flutes, extending obliquely across the transfer conveyor so as to be parallel with the axes of the articles on both the said conveyor-means.

Preferably the articles are deposited in the recesses of the transfer conveyor from the first said conveyor-means and are picked up from the saidrecesses by suction means associated with the said further conveyor-means.

There may be provided a suction transfer member associated with the first said conveyor-means and arranged to deposit articles in the recesses of the transfer conveyor.

The said transfer conveyor may comprise an endless conveyor band, and the said recesses comprise flutes extending obliquely across the conveyor band. 7 r

Further according to the presentinvention 'there is pro- 7 vided apparatus-for handling rod-like articles, such as cigarettes, comprising conveyor-means. to convey pairs of articles, the two articles in each pair. being in aligned, end-to-end arrangement, in succession in a direction transverse to the axes of the articles, further conveyor-means to convey the said pairs of articles in the opposite direction, and a transfer conveyor to receive the said pairs of articles from the first said conveyor-means and deliver them to the said further conveyor-means, said, transfer conveyor extending-obliquely from oneto the other of the said conveyor-means and being arranged tomove with a component in the direction of movement of one of them, andhaving article-receiving recesses, each adapted toreceive. a pair of articles, extending obliquely across the transfer conveyor, so has to be substantially parallel with the taxes of the articles onboth the said conveyormeans. a V

, The leading article of a pair (as considered in the direction of the componentof movement of the transfer con-' veyor parallel to the axes ofthe articles) is moved with an axial component of movement by the transfer conveyor 'relatively to the trailing article of the said pair, so that the two articles ofthe said pair can become spaced apart endwise in a recess of'the transfer conveyor. The

to the said transfer conveyor, wherein the said transfer means is adapted to transfer the leading article of a pair into a recess of the transfer conveyor, before transferring the trailing article of the said pair into the said recess. For example, the transfer means may comprise a pair of suction transfer members of which one deposits one article of a pair in a recess before-the other deposits the other article of the said pair in the said recess.

Alternatively, the apparatus may comprise a stop member arranged to engage the trailing article of a pair in a recess of the transfer conveyor and to hold the said article against movement with a component in the direction of its axis until it has been moved a predetermineddis tance in a direction transverse to its axis by the transfer conveyor. The apparatus may comprise a pair of coaxially mounted rotatable suction transfer members associated with the first said conveyor-means, of which one deposits one article and the other deposits the other article of a pair in a recess of the transfer conveyor, and the stop member may comprise a rotatable disc mounted coaxially with and between the said transfer members' Preferably pairs of articles are deposited in the recesses of the transfer conveyor from the first said conveyormeans, and there are provided suction means associated with the said further conveyor-means whereby the pairs'of articles can be picked up from the recesses of the transfer conveyor.

Apparatus in accordance with the invention will now'be described by way of example with reference to the accom-" panying drawings, in which: Y

FIGURE 1 is a diagrammatic plan View" showing a cigarette-makingmachine for making mouthpiece cigarettes' and including one embodiment of apparatus according to the invention; M

FIGURE 2 is a view on the line lI-II, FIGURE 1; I 7 FIGURE 3 is a view on the line 1III]I, FIGURE 1; FIGURE 445a view in the directionof the arrow IV,

FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary View showing a suction transfer device;

' FIGURE 6 is a plan viewof part of the apparatus grammatically a' continuous 'rod cigarette-making machine, generally indicated bythe reference numeral 6.-

Stub-feeding mechanism 7 feeds stubs S into spaces between cigarettes C, and groups, each consisting of a pair of cigarettes with a rdouble length stub between them, are

- fed into mechanism generally indicated by thereference apparatusmay comprise a pair of stops associated withthe transfer conveyor and ,positionedso that each stop can engage one of. the two articles in a recess of the transfer conveyor so asto correctly locate the said two articles a.

prior to their removal from thetransfer conveyor.

numeral 8 which causes the groups to move sideways and unites the component parts of each group by wrapping an adhesive uniting band around the stub and around:

the end portions of the cigarettes'which abut the stub.

ways in succession by fluted discs 9 (see FIGURE 2) past a rotating knife'10 which cuts midway through the stub portion of each assemblage, thus producing two individual mouthpiece cigarettes, The two cigarettes in each pair thus produced are slightly spaced apart end-E wise as they'move away from the knife 10 by means of V, aspacing guide (not shown), this end-wise spacing 'n'ot v being shown in FIGURE l on account'of the sinall 'scale of thatfigure. Thesecigarettes are then further cori- Patented Jan. I19, 1965.

on the line in FIG flutes in the conveyor'13. V a i I In the modificationcshown in'FlGUREe the suction; transfer member 'ZSconsists of two fluted suctionjdrums 26 and ZT mounted on, a common-rotatable shaft 23.;- The" pairs of mouthpiececigarettes, with the two cigarg l 3 roll. The elements 9, 10A veyor means by which the groups and (after severing) the cigarettesare conveyed sideways, i.e. in a direction transverseto their axes. x I a It is, required to reverse the direction of movement of the cigarettes,'and for this purpose a conveyor12, FIGURES 1 and 3, is provided, which runs in the direcand 1:1 constitute part'of contion of the arrow shown on it in FIGURE 1, and means 1 are provided to 12. u g i A transfer conveyor 13 extends obliquely from beneath transfer the cigarettes onto the conveyor 10 the ramp 11 to a position beneath a rotating shaft 14,

sec 3.150 FIGURES Band 4; which is provided withfour fluted wheels 15-whose flutes have suction apertures 16 capable of communicating with suction chambers 17 V Chains 1 9 pass about the sprockets 13 and also about sprockets 20 on' a further shaft 21. The suction chambers 17 inthe wheels 15 extend halfway around the wheels, as shown in FIGURE 3 so that suetion is applied-to flutes which are moving from the lower' to the upper part of the wheels. V V

The transfer conveyor 13 consists of a fluted conveyor band made ofa flexible material and passing about rollers 22 andi23, one of which is driven" by any suitable means.- The band is provided, with flutes which extend obliquelyacross the band so that when the band is arranged as shown, the, flutesare parallel with the axes of the cigarettes on the conveyor members 9, 10A andll and also with the axes of cigarettes on the conveyor 12.

Accordingly the flutes of' the conveyor 13 :receive cigarwith a component of movement in the direction in which they were form'erlyconveyed sideways, it is possible'for the conveyor to be 'rnoved relatively-slowly, thus avoiding undue acceleration of the cigarettes g V The "suction wheels;15' can bearrangedto rotate in the direction indicated by the arrow above the chains 19,

FIGURE 3 and at a speed such that ar'line of fiutes with suction apertures-16 registerstwith a pair 'ofcigarttes carried on a flute in the conveyor 13 whilethe cigarettes are moving with a component perpendicular to their axes which is equalin speed to the speed of'the suctionwhe'els a 15. The cigarettes are picked up'bythe suction apertures and lifted from the conveyor 13,; and carried around. with the suction wheels, from-which theyare-deposited' on to recesses. in the'chains 19, as shown in 'FIGURE 3.

1 A stop 1511.; FIGURE 4,'is provided to ensuretthat the flpairs of cigarettes are properly located longitudinally-before :being'picked'upby the wheels 15.

From the chains 19 the cigarettes" re'transferred to c the conveyo'n12 one rowof cigarettes passing down a ramp 22, FIGURE 3,;while the cigarettes of; the other rowjare' engagedby'a'device 23; which turns thern end- :forend before depositing them ontothe conveyor 12.; tT he purpose of this'is to arrange the cigarettes on the-Q conveyor 12with, their tipped ends all pointing thesame".

' FIGURE 5 illustrates a modification in which the endof the ramp 11 is positioned higher than in the arrangebert25, (which may consist of four suction wheels simiand to carry them down and deposit them in successive t 15 (FIGURE 3). The shaft 14 is also provided with four 7 sprockets18,

- FIGURE6). comes to rest against the stop.30, while the u 7' other cigarette of the pair comes to rest against the stop' 3 1 'As can be'see'n from FIGURE 6, the endwise separa- V tion of the two cigarettes inapair when they are first Suction chambers inside the drums 26 and 27,with

which suction parts 27 can" register, are arranged so that V the drum' 26 releases the leading'cigarette slightly before the-drum ,27. releases the trailing cigarette of a pair,

Thus the leading cigarette, by being received in a flute of the band- 13 before the trailing cigarette, is movedwith an axialcomponentof movement 'by the transferfconw veyor relatively to the trailing article, so that the two 'ar-i ticles of the pair become'spaced apart endwise in the flute of the transfer conveyor. r

A pair of stops 30 and 31 (which replace the stop 15a previously described) are arranged so that the leading cigarette of a pair (i.e.-the -left-hand cigarette as viewed in depositedon the band 13 isgreater than their separation I when they come to rest against the stops 30 and31. The

ettes from the ramp lland carrythem towards the suction-wheels 15 in staggered, overlappingrelationship and with their axial alignment undisturbed; Moreover," as theconveyor band is disposed obliquely as shown and the cigarettes are thus received on it in overlapping relation-' ship to one another and are conveyed by the conveyor 'FIGURE 6. The drur'n s32 and 33 pick up the cigarettes V purpose of this is to allow the leading cigarette of a pair to move past the, stop 31 without engaging the latter, the A 7 two stops then correctly locating the two, cigarettes in each":

pair for removal from the transfer conveyor.

. Two fluted suction drums 32 and 33' (which replace suction wheels 15 previously described) are mounted on a common rotatable shaft 34 above the transfer conveyor '13, the. drums 32 and 33 being shown in chain-dot line in' fronithe flutes of the transfer conveyor, the drum v32 picking up the leading" cigarette. and the drum' 33 the trailing cigarette ofteach pair. The cigarettes are'then deposited on the recesses in the chains 19 to be transferred to'the conveyor 12, the, twocigarettes in each pair retainingtheir endwise spaced relationship. V i

' p In the modification illustrated in FIGURES 7 and 8,

which showanalternative' arrangement whereby the two cigarettes in-a pairtcan become spaced apart endwise in a flute of the transfer conyeyor 13, the suction drums26 w andr27 deposit thetwo cigarettes of apair simultaneously into a flute of the band"13., A disc 3,4 is mounted on the: shaft' ztl between the drums, 26 andr27 for rotation therewith. As can best'be seen from FIGURE8, the trailing cigarette of apair, ie., the cigarette deposited by the 27,.is engaged by the disc 34, and held against movement, a; component in the direction of its axis un til the conveyor band 13 has moved thee cigarette a suflicient distance in a directiontransverse to itsraxis (to the left disc 34. During the time that the trailing cigarette is thus merit shown in FIGURE 2; and a suction transfer mern- V t as viewed in FIGURE 8) for the 'cigaretteto clear'the' engaged bylthe disc 34,'the leading cigarette of thepairis'being moved by" the, conveyor, '13 with a component of movement in the direction of its axis relatively to the. trailing cigarette, so that th'e two cigarettes become spaced apart'endwise in the flute of'the band 13. The cigarettes: V are then' arrestedby the stops 30 and 31,as previously described with reference to FIGURE 6, to correctly locate] the two cigarettes in eachtpair prior .to their removal from the transfer conveyonlll lar to the suction wheels 15 mentioned above); is'arranged; to receive successive pairs of cigarettes from the ramp I by Letters Patent i'sz .1. Apparatus vfor handling rod-like articles comprising f conveyor means to convey articles infsuccession'inja di-f v ,rection transverse to their axes, further conveyor-means, to 'cOnveythe said articles in theopposite direction, a t

transfer conveyor to receive articles fromJthelfirst said conveyor-means and deliver them to the saidfurther con;-

the

- Whatwe claim ase ourtinvention and desire to secure veyor-means, said transfer conveyor extending obliquely from one to the other of said conveyor-means, consisting of-an endless conveyor band of flexible material, and having article-receiving, flutes formed therein and extend ing obliquely across the transfer conveyor so as to be substantially parallel with the axes of the articles on both the said conveyor-means, and means to move the transfer conveyor with a component in the direction of moveveyor-means and deliver them to the said further con- V veyor-means, said transfer conveyor consisting of an endless conveyor band of flexible material and extending obliquely from one to the other of the said conveyormeans, and having article-receiving recesses, formed therein, each adapted to receive a pair of articles, extend-' ing obliquely across the transfer conveyor so as to be substantially parallel with the axes of the articles on both the said conveyor-means, and means to move the transfer conveyor with a component in the direction of movement of one of the said conveyor-means.

3. Apparatus as claimed in claim 2, wherein the leading article of a pair (as considered in the direction of the component of movement of the transfer conveyor parallel to the axes of the articles) is moved with an axial component of movement by the transfer conveyor relatively to the trailing article of the said pair, so that the two articles of the said pair can become spaced apart endwise in a recess of the transfer conveyor. I

4. Apparatus as claimed in claim 3, comprising a pair of stops associated with the transfer conveyor and positioned so that each stop can engage one of the two articles in V a recess of the. transfer conveyor so as to correctly locate the said two articles priorto their removal from the transfer conveyor. 7

5. Apparatus as claimed in claim 3, comprising trans pair into the said recess. V

6. Apparatus as claimed in claim 5, wherein thesaid transfer means comprises a pair of suction transfer members of which one deposits one article of a pair in a recess before the other deposits the other article of the said pair in the said recess.

7. Apparatus as claimed in claim 3,.comprisinga stop member arranged to engage the trailing article of a pair in a recess of the transfer conveyor and to hold the said article against movement with a component in the direction of its axis until it htas been moved a predetermined distance in a direction transverse to its axis by the transfer conveyor.

8. Apparatus as claimed in claim 7, comprising a pair of co-axially mounted rotatable suction transfer members associated with the first said conveyor-means, of which one deposits one article and the other deposits the other article of a pair in a recess of the transfer conveyor,.and wherein the said stop member comprises a rotatable disc mounted; coaxially with and betweenthe said transfer members.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,093,437 9/37 Gwinn. V

FOREIGN PATENTS 519,628 3/31 Germany. v 535,635 5/43 Great Britain.

SAMUEL F. COLEMAN, Primary Examiner. EDWARD A. SROKA, Examiner. 

1. APPARATUS FOR HANDLING ROD-LIKE ARTICLES COMPRISING CONVEYOR MEANS TO CONVEY ARTICLES IN SUCCESSION IN A DIRECTION TRANSVERSE TO THEIR AXES, FURTHER CONVEYOR-MEANS TO CONVEY THE SAID ARTICLES FROM THE FIRST SAID TRANSFER CONVEYOR TO RECEIVE ARTICLES FROM THE FIRST SAID CONVEYOR-MEANS AND DELIVER THEM TO THE SAID FURTHER CONVEYOR- MEANS, SAID TRANSFER CONVEYOR EXTENDING OBLIQUELY FROM ONE TO THE OTHER OF SAID CONVEYOR-MEANS, CONSISTING OF AN ENDLESS CONVEYOR BAND OF FLEXIBLE MATERIAL, AND HAVING ARTICLE-RECEIVING, FLUTES FORMED THEREIN AND EXTENDING OBLIQUELY ACROSS THE TRANSFER CONVEYOR SO AS TO BE SUBSTANTIALLY PARALLEL WITH THE AXES OF THE ARTICLES ON BOTH THE SAID CONVEYOR-MEANS, AND MEANS TO MOVE THE TRANSFER CONVEYOR WITH A COMPONENT IN THE DIRECTION OF MOVEMENT OF ONE OF THE SAID CONVEYOR-MEANS. 